


Strawberry-Vanilla Frosting

by LI0NH34RT



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cake, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Thiam, engagements, well fake engagements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24249478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LI0NH34RT/pseuds/LI0NH34RT
Summary: Pretend engagement means free cake.If only the pesky feelings weren’t...
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 33
Kudos: 91





	Strawberry-Vanilla Frosting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ell_002](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ell_002/gifts).



> For Ella. Just because. 💙

The strawberries are the perfect shade of red, glistening in the sunlight that is streaming through the shop’s window and Liam only barely resists the urge to press his hands and nose against it like he is ten years old.

  
He needs that cake.

Liam just wants to step inside the bakery when he spots a big banner over the entrance.  
 **'Wedding Cake Testing'**  
 _Free cake? Even better!_

  
Then a line below, in a much smaller font: **only for couples.**  
Who would even do that? They are practically setting people up for heartbreak with that!

Liam sighs, his shoulders sack down and he turns around to go to Starbucks and gulp down his disappointment with an overly expensive (and probably over-sugary) coffee creation.

Then he sees the guy just walking past him.

  
Which in itself is not so weird, they are on a public street in a reasonably big city on a Saturday afternoon, there are bound to walk people past them - but this guy.  
He is so hot, it's basically model status.

And normally Liam wouldn't even try to talk to a man like him (he knows that he's reasonably cute himself but also _just cute_ ) but today he is desperate.   
"Hey! Hey you! Do you want cake?"

The guy turns around, his handsome face a perfect question mark. “Me?”, he asks.  
Liam quickly explains the situation, ending with a breathless: “So? Will you pretend to be my fiancé?" 

  
The other guy hesitates, "Uhm, I barely know you. Plus I am not gay."  
"Well, neither am I. What does that have to do with free cake?" Liam retorts before holding out his hand. “My name is Liam, by the way.”

  
“Theo", they shake hands, then Theo says, “I am really sorry Liam but you have to find someone else for this.”

"No! Wait! They have so many flavours!" Liam tightens his grip around Theo's hand to stop him from leaving.  
He is just about to start arguing again when a bell sounds behind his back. The shop door opened and the owner, a small redhead woman with freckles, sticks her head out. “Hey, are you two coming in? We want to start with the tasting."

  
"Yes. Yes we are."   
Liam smiles at her before turning around to Theo and whispering: "if you don't play along I _will_ make a scene. Don't underestimate my ability to ignore my own humiliation."

~♤~

Theo had always been fascinated by some people's genuine lack of self-awareness and pride.   
And there he was, this weirdly guy, willing to go to terrible lengths for something so trivial as cream filling, and to take Theo down with him in the process.

"Oh, I'm sure you can withstand humiliation. You literally just harassed and shamed a complete stranger for his sexuality... for cake."  
"Exactly," Liam said, grinning like a mad man. "There's no telling what I will do to you if you don't feed me cake."

  
Theo berated himself for wanting to know.  
He stepped in after Liam into the bakery.

  
The bells jingles happily.

~♤~

It's ridiculously easy to play a couple with Theo even though he met the guy like one hour ago, Liam thinks. Maybe it's the whole atmosphere, being around three other loved up couples and all – they look like a perfectly planned advertisement, all of the participants having big smiles on their faces while trying cake after cake.

  
Theo seems to take his role as husband to be really seriously because he occasionally feeds Liam spoonfuls of his cake (completely ignoring that Liam has the exact same one on his own) and his loving glances make even Liam, who knows the truth, feel a little bit hot.  
Apparently they are quite convincing because one of the other guests, a brunette girl named Tracy smiles at them. “You guys are so cute together! Like freshly coupled. How long do you know each other for?”

Liam freezes, the fork halfway towards his mouth, “uhm... you see Theo and I met five years ago-"

“And it is a hilarious story!”, Theo chimes in, his eyes glinting mischievously, “so, I work for a insurance company and when I got sent to my first away appointment I got the wrong apartment number and Li here, he opened the door in just a towel with shampoo in his hair”, Theo chuckles fondly.  
Liam, feeling the heat in his cheeks from hearing the nickname, has recovered enough to continue, “well yeah, I thought you were bringing my pizza! You don't let delivery people wait, it's inconsiderate, babe.”

Tracy awws while her partner Josh eyes Liam's chest as if to evaluate his fitness. “So pizza and cake, huh? You need to do a lot of work outs with that diet...”

“Well yeah”, Liam smiles a little shy, he learned to love his body, tummy or not, “Theo and I go running together and I have a weight set at home. But hey, you only live once right?” he swallows another piece of cake to prove his point.   
“I for one think you are perfect, Li, I love cuddling with you”, Theo chimes in, casually sneaking an arm around Liam's shoulders.  
Shoving an elbow into her fiancé’s side Tracy nods, “exactly what I always say. Life is too short to not eat cake as delicious as this one but the health nut over here swears by his protein shakes.”

They all laugh and then the next cake is placed on the table.

~♤~

Three hours later they step out of the shop, slightly nauseous from all the sugar and with smiles permanently etched onto their faces. They wave good bye to Josh and Tracy before wandering of in the other direction.

  
Theo's arm stays on Liam's waist, even after they round the corner.

  
"So... Are you into any other kind of food than cake?"  
"Depends," Liam answers, suddenly suspicious. "Why?"  
They come to a stop and Theo smiles conspiratorially.   
"Because, there's a wedding caterer right down this street. I believe they specialize in gourmet cuisine."

  
Liam's heart beats faster. "They... they do?"  
"Yes, indeed. And if you want, we could go and check it out. We’ve been a pretty good team today, right?"  
"We really were..."  
"They only take reservations, though."

  
"What are you doing next Saturday?", it comes out a little too fast and the only thing that keeps Liam from trying to row back is Theo's pretty smile.

~♤~

From then on it becomes a tradition. Every week they meet up to try and scam another wedding related business. Liam insists that they stick to wealthy ones, not robbing a small shop of their last products. Theo pouts because he really wanted to try out that one ice cream sculpturer but in the end he agrees.

  
They quickly find something to distract him – their meet up story.  
Every time someone asks (or don’t asks, really) it becomes a more elaborate and outrageous lie. Both Liam and Theo are trying to one up the other with a version, to try and make the other crack.

One time Theo tells of a business trip to New York he took a few months back. “Liam sat next to me and he is deadly afraid of flying because he held my hand for the whole flight without saying a word. I swear I still have the bruises! He's lucky those blue eyes work on me... And he only introduced himself when we were waiting for our luggage.”

The next week, Liam counters with an episode about how he got stood up at a restaurant and Theo, his waiter tried to cheer him up – just for Theo to chime in (he's terribly competitive and simply can’t take to be beaten at his own game) “I actually directed your date to another table. To this day, he still thinks you're the one who stood him up but I just couldn't help myself, it was love at first sight.” He completes the story with a loving glance and one hand touching Liam's cheek.

The other guests ‘aww’ and Liam feels the heat rise to his cheeks once again. Theo smirks at him. _Victory_.

  
~♤~

Theo doesn’t know how it could come to that. Exactly five weeks ago a stranger talked him into playing fiancés just to get some free cake and now they are acting like Bonnie and Clyde.

  
But yes, Theo of course also loves cake and good food and free booze samples. So they continue their charade.  
And the story how they met gets more and more exaggerated every time. It's like a little bet of who can come up with the most outrageous details without laughing.  
The touches and glances get longer and Theo tells himself that this is what happens when you get to know a person.

And well, when there are also kisses and hand holding and pet names and they don't feel forced at all anymore it's definitely just because he got used to it.

But then Liam laughs at something their host for the evening says, blue eyes sparkling with joy as he turns to Theo, wanting to see if he also caught the joke, his cheeks slightly rosy from the champagne and later, his head on Theo's shoulder, hair locks tickling the skin of his neck, then, yeah then Theo knows that he is fucked.

~♤~

“Happy fake-aversary, baby!”, Theo exclaims, holding out a bouquet of wildflowers.  
They are sitting in an ice cafe, the sun is shining and literally everyone around them has a smile on their face. It's the perfect day.  
Liam laughs, “you know that you are way too sweet for a guy I basically forced to be my friend?”

Theo's answering smile is a little wonky but he shrugs it off. “Maybe you just grew on me?”  
“Stockholm syndrome?”

  
“Nah... more like a fungus.” He has to rush the last part of that sentence to duck in time of dodging Liam's playful swing, “no, but seriously", he continues, “I enjoy our evenings together. Which is why I am doing this.”

  
“Doing what?” Liam asks but Theo only smiles. In the sane moment a server appears.  
“Your orders – one Vanilla Confetti and one Strawberry Dream. Enjoy.”

“You ordered for us?”, Liam asks confused but Theo only shrugs, “come on Li, you take strawberry every time anyway, we can save the time for more important things.”  
“Like?”  
“...Like looking at this super pretty ice cream bowl?”, Theo counters having Liam roll his eyes but he still lowers his gaze only to freeze. In the middle of his bowl, on top of a perfectly carved strawberry lies a golden ring.

  
“Theo.”  
“Yes, Liam?”  
“I think they confused our orders, there is a couple here missing their ring.”

“I know", Theo says, his smile turning nervous again, he gets up from his seat, and then sinks to one knee in front of Liam's. In his hands rests a small velvet box that he now snaps open.  
“Liam, my partner in crime, will you be my partner in life as well?”

Liam stares at him. The whole cafe stares at them. Theo's smile wobbles, “will you please say something before my knee cap breaks?”  
And somehow that little quip is what makes it true, makes it not another con but the reality.

  
_Theo wants to marry me._

~♤~

It's only later, when they lay on Theo's couch, cuddled as close as possible with Liam still thoughtfully turning the shiny ring on his left hand that he notices it.  
“We never paid for those sundaes!“

  
Theo laughs. “One final trick before we go down the honest road.”  
“No more free cake?”, Liam mocks a horrified gasp.

  
“Well, we still need to pick a cake for our real wedding...”


End file.
